The Spanish regulatory framework governing university doctoral studies, establishes that, for all purposes, PhD students are researchers in training and, as such, all the activities carried out by ...these students during their training as doctors, must be recorded. These activities must be detailed in a formal "doctoral activity document" (DAD) that serves to evaluate the student.
If these students are considered, to all intents and purposes, researchers (in training), their activities (all or some of them) should be part of the scientific production of the institution and, therefore, be included in their CRIS systems. Through the results of a survey conducted in 18 relevant Spanish universities, this presentation aims to analyse how the research activities carried out during the doctoral training period impact, or may impact, on CRIS systems.
The articles in this special issue of Innovations in Education and Teaching International provide a global snapshot of the current state of doctoral education. They show variation across national ...systems, and at the same time, demonstrate that similarities exist between them. In this concluding article, we summarise the findings from the articles, provide conclusions, and suggest further avenues for research.
Doctorate level attainment has increased significantly in developed economies. In 2019, the average share of 25–64-year-olds with a doctorate across the OECD was around 1%. However, if current trends ...continue, 2.3% of today’s young adults will enter doctoral studies at some point in their life. This essay starts by describing the expansion of doctoral education. It then reflects on the causes of this growth and the consequences for the nature and purpose of the doctorate. This reflection is mostly based on published research in
Higher Education
in the last 50 years and the author’s work on policy analysis for the OECD on this topic. The paper finishes with a research agenda on doctoral education and the career of doctorate holders.
The education doctorate program fills an essential niche that allows practitioners to earn a doctorate and make a difference in educational practice and policy. However, critics claim EdD programs ...are failing to effectively prepare students. There has been a push for the reinvention of the EdD which includes improving EdD student confidence in their ability to undertake research. This calls for a redesign of research methods courses and purposefully grounding them in adult learning theory. The framework of transformative learning can foster higher-order learning by including key components such as critical reflection, collaborative dialogue, and awareness of context. This article shares a transformative learning model used to redevelop an EdD research methods course that emphasised self-reflective tasks such as identity memos, research design maps, and cognitive interviews. This learner-centred, constructivist approach resulted in positive learning outcomes including increased student confidence and enhanced practical knowledge and research skills.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the award to J.M. Bocheński of the honoris causa doctorate by the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw, we have studied the documents related to that ...event, which can be found in the Archives of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. We have also discovered audio recordings and photos from the ceremony, as well as documentation from the Faculty of Christian Philosophy, which shows the efforts made to award Father Bocheński that title. It turns out that from 1981, the Faculty passed a resolution on that matter three times. The aim of this paper is to discuss these archival materials.
A scoping review to identify models of doctoral supervision as described in the literature (2000 and 2021) was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley's six-step framework. Four bibliographic databases ...generated 2102 potential studies. Further screening identified 81 articles for inclusion. The findings highlight that despite differences in terminology, an international move towards more collaborative and structured approaches is identifiable. Benefits detailed in the literature include: better throughput, the mitigation of loneliness and power issues implicated in one-on-one approaches, and the possibility for a stronger research foundation and interdisciplinary work. Concerns were also noted about increasing managerialism whereby support structures focus on efficiencies rather than quality and growing ties between industry and doctoral education without much critique of possible conflicts.
Aim/Purpose: The overall aim of this study was to improve our understanding of engineering student satisfaction and expectations with PhD supervision and their perceptions of the roles in a ...supervisory relationship.
Background: Studies on PhD supervision quality are highly valuable, mainly when they provide information on supervision experiences from students’ perspectives, rather than from supervisors’ perspectives. Understanding how PhD students think, their preferences and their perceptions of roles in a supervision process can help enhance the quality of supervision, and consequently, form better researchers and produce better research outcomes.
Methodology: The method employed in this investigation was based on a student survey with scaled and open-ended questions of 30 full-time engineering PhD students from a research institution in Australia.
Contribution: Studies that provide a better understanding of how engineering PhD students think and how they expect a supervisory relationship to be are limited. This study can be used to derive recommendations for improving supervisory relationships, particularly in engineering schools and institutions.
Findings: The majority of the students perceived most of the supervisor and student roles in close agreement with the roles described in the literature and existing codes of practice for the supervision of higher degree research students. The main reasons for dissatisfaction with supervision were identified as being the lack of involvement of supervisors in the research projects, particularly in the writing process, and the lack of supervisor’s knowledge in the field being supervised.
Recommendations for Practitioners: It is recommended that the roles of each party in a supervision process be discussed and clarified at the beginning of any PhD candidature to avoid false student expectations. The right supervisory fit should be ensured early in the candidature, and additional supervisors should be added to the team if the expertise of supervisors is deemed insufficient. The use of supervisory panels as opposed to individual supervisions to ensure that responsibilities are shared and to increase the range of advice and support available to each student is highly recommended.
Recommendation for Researchers: It is recommended that this type of research be expanded to other disciplines. It is also recommended that specific actions be taken to improve supervision and these be correlated to satisfaction rates and/or student performance.
As social work doctoral programs are undergoing a substantive shift, in the United States, more institutions of higher education are trending towards a resurgence of a doctorate of social work degree ...(DSW). However, little attention has been given to the experiences of DSW students. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to explore why students choose DSW education, professional aspirations, and intended contributions to the field of social work. Findings suggest that 85% of participants noted flexibility as a key selling point and that perceived value added includes professional satisfaction, scholarly leadership, and practice-informed research. The DSW offers the added value of producing seasoned clinical professionals who become highly trained in theory, policy, and research.
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